What To Look for in a Special Education Program for Your Child with Autism

Some parents have the luxury of choosing and hiring their own behavioral therapist. Others have therapists selected for them by their child's school, early intervention agency, or other institution. No matter what the source of your child's therapist, though, you should be able to learn more about the therapist. Questions to ask include:

• Does this therapist have Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) certification? Most qualified therapists do have this certification. If yours does not, you can almost certainly find a qualified local therapist through the BACB database.
• Has this therapist worked with children on the autism spectrum before?
• What is your therapist's educational background? Behavioral therapists should have a college degree and (ideally) formal training in special education, child development, or a related field.
• Does your therapist take part in continuing education programs?
• Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills Test Revised (ABLLS) is a well-regarded assessment tool that looks many different areas of development and learning, and helps therapists and teachers to design an appropriate program for your child. Partington suggests that parents specifically ask for this test. He says, "If you don't know what a child knows and doesn't know, you can't teach them. What you want to do is ensure that the level of teaching is at the appropriate level. When you go to the IEP meeting, you know what the appropriate goals are.... Without such an assessment, [therapists] ... may choose activities based on age-appropriate expectations. [When this happens], a child may be working on "red" and "blue" [when he] should really be working on concrete object identification."
  Without appropriate assessment, your child's therapist may spend months working on advanced ideas, depriving your child of the basic concepts he or she needs to progress.